Black Leopards Football Club returned to the Premier Soccer League (PSL) after they beat Jomo Cosmos 1-0 in the final match of PSL promotional play-offs at Thohoyandou Stadium last Wednesday.
Lidoda duvha had dream 2017/18 National First Division (NFD) season winning 14 matches from 30 to finish the season with 50 points.
Managing director for the Club, Tshifiwa Thidiela described the season as one of their best in the last five years. “When we were relegated in 2013 the plan was to immediately go back to the PSL but we could not do that. We had to adapt and learn the division in its entirety and it was not easy. In the last four years we played in the play-offs and we always came short. The play-offs were not unfamiliar territory for us the problem was succeeding them. We are just happy for the players. We want to thank them for their sacrifices, their hard work and commitment. The club could not have reached this achievement if not for them,” Thidiela said.
Leopards’s return to the elite league was welcomed by soccer fans and stakeholders in the province.
Congratulating Leopards, Media Liaison Officer at Limpopo Provincial Legislature Meodi Mothapo was quoted saying: “The Limpopo Legislature joins the multitudes of soccer fanatics in the province that are beaming with pride following Black Leopards FC’s promotion to the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The team’s promotion to PSL now brings the total number of Limpopo based teams in this most sought after league in the country to three. This includes both Baroka Football Club and Polokwane City Football Club, which have kept the Limpopo flag flying high.”
Nocks Seabi, Provincial Secretary for ANC in a statement reportedly said: “The ANC in Limpopo wishes to congratulate Black Leopards Football Club for their hard earned and deserved win against Jomo Cosmos in a play-off match which guaranteed Black Leopards a promotion to the Premier Soccer League. We congratulate them for doing our province proud and cementing our high spot in the country as a paradise of sports generally and soccer particularly. They are joining Polokwane City Football Club and Baroka Football Club as our ambassadors in the PSL.
“We are hopeful that both of them will remain there until we add more teams into the PSL. We call on all citizens of Limpopo to support our teams in more vigorous ways than ever before as this helps in unearthing young talent and growing our provincial economy,” the statement read.
Chairperson of Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA), Andrew Dipela said the agency Board would like to congratulate Black Leopards FC. “The club’s promotion to the PSL will then mean that Limpopo will have three teams in the PSL next season. We are of the view that their much deserved promotion will bring a lot of economic activities not only into the locality in which they play at but to the province as a whole and elevate the sports tourism profile of the province.”
“The business community will be the biggest winner during all the PSL games that will be played in the province, we call upon all tourism stakeholders to seize this opportunity and start developing favorable packages for soccer fans who will be visiting our province during the next PSL season,” Dipela stated.
Story: Herbert Rachuene
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